After the dust has Settled
by order-of-the-sword
Summary: After the final battle Harry discovers Ginny's betrayal. What will he do now that his love has left him for another man. HP/DG latter. I don't own Harry Potter


After the dust has settled

**Hey, this story has been floating round my head for a while now so I have decided to write it and share it with everyone. By nice and enjoy it. For this story, not one of the main characters died in the final battle, so Remus, Tonks and Fred are still alive.**

**Read and review.**

Harry Potter was not a happy man. He had every right to be a happy man, after all he had just killed the mad man who killed his parents and Godfather, killed countless others and lead a group of terrorists round the country killing innocent people as they went, raping when it suited them.

But he hasn't happy. He was miserable. The girl he loved, the girl who said that she loved him and would wait for him to come back no matter who long he was gone, and just broke his heart. And she didn't even know it yet.

He struggled to keep his emotions under control as the scene that had caused him this heart break played in front of his eyes.

_Harry, Ron and Hermione were walking back from the Headmasters office when, talking about what they were going to do now. Harry and Hermione shared a secret smile; they knew what the other wanted after the war as they had talked about when they were in the tent by themselves. Hermione wanted to get together with Ron (finally) and Harry wanted to get back together with Ginny and, with any luck, get married some day. Even though he was still young he knew that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her._

_But, just like his whole life, it wasn't going to be like that._

_As they turned the corner on the second floor to head back down to the great hall they came upon a scene that froze Harry's heart and shattered it._

_There, in the middle of the hallway was Neville snogging passionately with Ginny. _No no no no. This can't be happening. This isn't real. It's a trick._ When he heard Ginny moan though, like he used to get her to, he abruptly stopped his thoughts and stood, rooted to the spot, watching the scene unfold in front of him._

'_HEY!' Ron shouted, forcing the two of them apart so they faced the three of them, The Golden Trio as they were called in school. 'What the FUCK do you think you're doing?' He demanded, sounding pissed off._

'_Well seen as we are going out, we kissing like girlfriend and boyfriend should' Ginny replied, equally pissed, and hadn't Harry yet._

_When she said this, Harry's future life that he had planned out for the two of them came crumbling down, like building during an earthquake. He couldn't stand it anymore so he turned on his heels sharply and left the way he had came, finding his way out next to the lake to think about where he should go now, and what he should do._

He choked back a sob as it finished playing. He stood there for three hours with the scene playing over and over again. No matter how hard he tried he couldn't get it to stop, he couldn't stop thinking about the betrayal that he had suffered. He wanted the pain to stop. He wanted to find a way to continue with his life. But most of all he wanted the heartbreaking, gut wrenching, never ending pain to stop. It had started as soon as he saw them kissing and had only intensified as time went on.

The sound of a twig breaking behind him altered Harry that someone was there. He slowly turned around, preparing himself for the worst case scenario. He turned and ended up face to face with Tonks.

'Hey buddy, what you doing out here?' she spoke to him carefully. _So_ he thought _she knows. I wonder who else knows. Who the hell am I kidding, I'm fucking Harry Potter, everyone probably knows by now._

'You know, you were the one who told me that Ginny loved me for me. You were the one who told me to get over my love for Hermione. You were the one who told me to _test the waters, she who's out there, get to know a few girls better, don't worry _you said_ you'll find the one._ Well that plan went to fuck didn't it?' He said scathingly, voice full of hurt, anger and betrayal.

She was the only person who knew of his love for Hermione. He had asked for her help when they were staying in Grimmauld Place. He had started to love her on his second year and had found out for a fact that he loved at the end of his third year, when she risked a paradox to save someone Harry hardly knew so he could be happy. He had asked her to go to the Yule Ball with her when it was first announced, but she declined saying she would rather go with someone who asked her to go with them as their girlfriend and not as their friend. He had been crushed, but didn't let it show. So, desperately in need of help, he turned to the only girl who he thought could help him. He couldn't go to Ginny, she still hadn't stopped blushing in his presence yet, Mrs Weasley couldn't understand him and it would be uncomfortable and he couldn't go to the girl he loved, who didn't love him back, and talk about his feeling for her. So he had turned to Tonks.

He talked to her for three hours straight about his feeling and what he dreamed about in the future, as they all had Hermione in a leading role. She had said that he was too young to be in love, that she once thought she was in love but it was just a crush and that he shouldn't become too hung up on it.

So he had tried. He gave up on Hermione, or as well as he could on the person he loved, and went out with Cho to try and forget her. It didn't work but that didn't matter, it was just a crush.

When he started to notice Ginny in a more romantic light, he was thrilled, he felt that he had finally put the whole Hermione thing behind him and live again. When he started to go out with her, he knew he was falling for her, and hard. When he broke up with her it was the hardest thing he had ever had to do.

Just before the wedding had started, Harry and Ginny had shared the most passionate kiss either of them had ever had, told the other that they loved them and that each of them would wait.

Thinking of this made him lose all control of his emotions and grabbed hold of Tonks like she was his rock to life and wouldn't let go no matter what. There, standing next the lake of Hogwarts while clinging onto Tonks for dear life, he cried. He cried for the first time in 12 years, since he had been beaten for doing better than Dudley in a test at school. Harry let all of his emotions out, until he had cried until he couldn't cry anymore.

'Why? Why does all if this shit happen to me? Just when I was happy with my life, fate has to fuck everything up for me. Can't fucking anything go right for me?' He asked, almost begged, to Tonks, who was crying as well.

'I don't know why everything bad happens to, I don't know why you can't be happy for once in your life, but I do know that in a past life you must have been the luckiest person in the world to deserve all of this,' she finished, glad that she had managed to get harry to laugh at the last bit.

They stood there, Harry still wrapped around Tonks. 'Does Ginny love him?' He asked fearfully. When Tonks didn't answer right away, he knew the answer. She loved him. His love loved someone else. It was just like before with Hermione. The loss of Ginny though cut deeper. She had said that she loves him back, that she would wait for him. He fought the war so he could be with her, so that they could be happy together and life a life of happiness.

Now that was gone. Harry felt that he was drowning in a sea of black, that if he let it, it would shallow him whole and never let him go. He needed to get away from here. Go far away. Have a holiday.

'I... I am leaving, Tonks. Don't try to talk me out of it, I need this. I need time on my own to think. Tell everyone that I'll be back for the new school year. Bye.' He said in a tone of voice better suited for a funeral and started to walk off.

'Harry' Tonks shouted at him. Harry heard the plea in her voice and turned around to look at her again. 'Be careful, alright? And do come back, Teddy needs his Godfather' Harry smiled, said goodbye again and walked to the Three Broomsticks so he could use their floo. He needed to get to Gringotts to sort a few things out.

OoOoO

Tonks stood, silently crying as she watched Harry Potter, The-Boy-Who-Lived-To-Kill-He-Who-Most-Not-Be-Named, the bravest, strongest and most noble man she ever knew, or anyone will ever know, walk away from his home. He had once told her that Hogwarts was his fist home. She was heartbroken for him.

He, above everyone right now, deserved to be loved. She felt herself pray for the first time in her life. She prayed that the young man who had just walked away from his home, friends and family would still find someone to love him back.

She didn't anyone else who could have such bad luck with the people who he falls in love with. The first girl loves him like a brother and is in love with his best friend. Not everyone could do what he has done, spend every day round the person he lover while watching her fall in love with his best friend without doing anything to try and stop it. The next person he fell for was, in her opinion, the luckiest girl the world. Most men show their love by buying the girl flowers or taking her on a walk round the lake. But Harry had shown his love for Ginny by defeating Voldemort and ridding the world of that blight. And Tonks knew that Harry would never tell Ginny that as he was too noble to try that to get her back.

She walked slowly to the castle to tell everyone what Harry had said. She got into the great hall and noticed it was packed. She saw Hermione sitting with Luna talking in hushed tones. She idly wondered what they were talking about. As most people were in the hall at this time, she decided to do it now.

She reached the front of the hall where the Headmaster normally does his speeches, stood on the raised platform and shot sparks, with a big bang, to get everyone's attention. Everyone turned to her, some people even draw their wands, with a questioning face. She did notice that Luna looked sad and, almost, prepared for what was about to come. Tonks wondered if she had seer blood in her. It was explain some of the craziness about her.

'I have talked to Harry Potter a few minutes ago. Due to some changes that happened after he defeated the worst Dark Lord we have ever seen, he has decided to go on holiday for the rest of the summer. Before you ask, I don't know where is went, i didn't ask, but he did express his wish to be left alone for the time being. He did say though that he would return to finish school. Thank you.' She finished and immediately went to Remus, turned him forcibly round and kissed him as they have never kissed before.

They parted only when breathing became an issue. When they did Tonks saw the lust and the innumerable questions that he had about the press conference she had just held in front of the whole ministry, or what was left of it any way.

'He's gone because of Ginny, isn't he?' said a small, timid voice from behind her. Tonks turned to see a tearful Hermione looking at her with sad eyes and a puppy dog pout on her voice.

Tonks knew that she had to be truthful with her; Hermione was Harry's best friend and could read him better than anyone while knowing exactly why he did what he chose to do in any given situation. 'He didn't say that was the reason but, yes. He left because the girl he loves didn't wait for him, even though she said that she would. He left because he has nothing left to fight for. He left to clear his head and we should honour that.' Tonks was openly crying at the end of her speech to Hermione.

Hermione wasn't the best when it came to emotions and such, just look how she handled her crush on Ron, dreadful. But she was wise enough to leave the subject alone, which was obviously painful for the crying women standing, broken, with tears in her eyes and a death grip on her husband. She nodded her approval for what she said.

'Come Remus, let's go. We need to see Teddy, and my mother. God, she'll be stressing out by now.' Tonks chocked out as she led her husband into the entrance hall and out of Hogwarts.

'Don't worry. He'll come back. He just needs time to clear his head, deal with his issues and then he will return, better than ever. You'll see,' came the dreamy voice of Luna from behind Hermione. Hermione turned; shocked that she didn't hear Luna approach. _But then again I never do hear her approach, must be some type of magic for her to be that quiet_ Hermione thought.

'Are you sure?' was Hermione's tearful reply, full of hurt due to the fact that Harry didn't say why he was leaving to her, like he normally did. Luna nodded to confirm her statement. 'Good, I need to kick his ass for that stunt he pulled' Hermione finished, while wishing that she could cure his pain.


End file.
